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Elizabeth Segerstrom and Barbara Tober
were underwriters of last night’s New
York Philharmonic concert dedicated to
their late husbands, Henry Segerstrom
and Donald Tober. The evening opened the
Orchestra's subscription season under
Gustavo Dudamel, the Philharmonic’s
newly appointed Music & Artistic
Director.
“Donald is in my bones. When we married,
we opened up our life together and we
sat for hours talking about who we are
and why we are together—something that a
lot of people should do today instead of
watching television,” said Barbara,
“when you lose someone, hug them
spiritually and keep them all around you
as much as you can.” Continued Elizabeth
“Henry believed the arts had to be at
the center of everything, and to always
look to the future. Barbara helped teach
me that, and how to have joy in my
memories.” Henry and Donald were both
much-loved patrons of the art, deeply
involved in philanthropic circles across
the country.
Dudamel kicked off his inaugural season
with John Adams’ On the Transmigration
of Souls, the world premiere of Zosha Di
Castri’s Invisible House, and
Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5. The concert
was followed by a private party at
Daniel Boulud’s new Brasserie Boulud,
which opened specially for Barbara and
Elizabeth two weeks before its official
commencement. Unlike a benefit, the
private party brought together close
friends, with a buffet dinner allowing
them to mingle and raise a glass to
Donald and Henry. Following short toasts
from the hosts, the Young People’s
Chorus of New York City, accompanied by
violinist Nick Kendall, apparated and
surrounded the guests with a surprise
performance. The kids, not one over the
age of fourteen, sang You Will Be Found
from the Broadway musical Dear Evan
Hansen.
Among the 160 guests that night were
Mikhail Baryshnikov with Lisa Rinehart,
Millie and John Bratten, Bill Buford and
Jessica Green, Henry M. Buhl, Candace
Bushnell, Brandon Chrostowski, Dr. Layla
S. Diba, Michele Oka Doner and Fred
Doner, Michael Feinstein, Joanna Fisher,
Kip Forbes, Lee Fryd, Sabina Gerjatowicz,
Gina Gibney, Sir Clive D. Gillinson CBE
and Lady Anya Gillinson, Isabelle
Harnoncourt Feigen, Dr. Bruce C. Horten,
Susan Jaffe, Yue-Sai Kan and Allan
Pollack, LaVon Kellner, Francine LeFrak
and Rick Friedberg, William Ivey Long,
Peter Marino, Daphne Merkin, Chloe
Misseldine, Mark W. Morris, Galina
Novikova, Judith F. Pisar, Tatiana and
Alexei Ratmansky, Colleen and Gary Rein,
Casey Reitz, Ben Rodriguez-Cubeñas,
Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner, Christine
Shevchenko and Alex DiMattia, Malissa
Feruzzi Shriver, Daniil Simkin, Cory
Stearns, Sandra and Stanford Warshawsky,
Sir Christopher Wheeldon OBE and Ross
Rayburn, Jane Fujishige Yada, and
HRH Prince Dimitri de Yugoslavia.
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